SIGN UP TO RECEIVE THE LATEST POSTS VIA EMAIL!What Is Form SSA-1099?
December 10, 2011
Form SSA-1099 is a government tax form for those who receive social security benefits to report their earnings for the year and pay any taxes on that income. Social security benefits are available to the elderly, blind or disabled individuals. These benefits come from the taxes withheld by employees and workers who earn an income from a job or self-employment.
The form is a document that you will receive in the mail and it is sent out by January 31 of the New Year so that those who receive benefits can see how much they have earned and report any income that they may have earned in addition to their social security income.
The form comes in a large white envelope each year with the recipients name and social security number and earnings on the form.
If you received one hundred percent of your social security benefits and held any type of employment while receiving those benefits you may have to pay a penalty at tax time for not having a certain percentage of your benefits withheld. Make sure that if you have other income outside of your social security benefits that you report this income as soon as possible and have the appropriate amount of taxes taken out of your benefits.
For instance you may have 10, 15 or 25 percent taken out of your social security benefits to cover the wages that you earn in addition to those benefits.
The form SSA-1099 may be confused with the other 1099 series forms as some are for those who are self employed or independent contractors.
If you need help with filling out your form or filing the taxes on your social security benefits you can speak with a social security representative who may be able to help you understand the form, or you can speak with your local tax representative for further information about filing.
Illinois Requires You Pay Tax on Out-Of-State Purchases
March 11, 2011
As I do my taxes this year, I noticed a nice new little change to the Illinois tax law. Within Turboax.com I started my Illinois return and was presented with this question…
Well isn’t that nice. Illinois is actually requiring me to pay taxes on my out of state purchases. Unfortunately this year I didn’t keep track of that, so I am assuming that I should say no. At this point I am not sure how enforced this new law will be. Am I going to get audited if I select no? Well I can’t prove that I did or did not buy anything from places like Amazon.com or Buy.com. But I might think twice during this year. I guess as more and more states are trying to get every penny they can, we may someday see the end of tax free shopping at Internet sites. For all you fellow Illinoisans, what are you answering for this question?
In related news, if you haven’t heard as well, Amazon.com and Overstock.com have dropped all Illinois affiliates, since our genius Governor has decided to ask for taxes from any companies that have affiliates in the state. It’s funny that when you bankrupt a state, you go after people’s livelihoods to make up for the fact that you can’t manage your own wallet, much less the tax payers. Hey people run government like a business! And if you suck at it, then you should get fired and replaced! I think it is time to start thinking about moving out of Illinois. Colorado, here I come!
2010 & 2011 Social Security Limits
December 21, 2010
If you are one of the lucky ones to make over $106,800 per year in 2010, you may have noticed a little extra money in your paycheck. That is because you hit the earnings limit to have to pay into Social Security. The nice thing is that once you hit the limit, all that extra money goes right back to you.
Since the economy is still a bit sluggish, the earnings limit for 2011 is the same as 2010. If you make under $106,800 then none of this really matters to you unfortunately, but it is nice to dream isnt it?
The table below gives you a little history as to how the limites have increased over the years, mainly due to a strong economy.
| Year | Wages | % Increase |
| 2011 | $106,800 | NA |
| 2010 | $106,800 | NA |
| 2009 | $106,800 | 4.7% |
| 2008 | $102,000 | 4.6% |
| 2007 | $97,500 | 3.5% |
| 2006 | $94,200 | 4.7% |
| 2005 | $90,000 | 2.4% |
You should also keep in mind that if you made over the $106,800 at more than 1 job, you will most likely receive the excess money back at tax time. Since each employer keeps track of their payroll liabilites seperatly, if you made more than the limit chances are you have some money coming back to you in April. If you use a program such as TurboTax it will notify you of the excess amount as you enter your W-2′s.
Original post from Budgetcents.net
Free Turbo Tax Online For 2010 Tax Season From State Farm Bank
December 17, 2010
For the third year in a row, State Farm Bank is offering free Turbo Tax online if you have a State Farm banking product. Remember that the first year, State Farm gave this offer to those that just had State Farm Insurance. That has since switched to their Bank division, so you need to have a banking product such as a Savings, Checking or Credit Card account open.
When you log into your State Farm Account you will see the following link on the left side of the page:
Clicking on the link will take you directly to TurboTax’s homepage, however you will notice that the prices are either free or discounted based on the State Farm Promotion. Here is the breakdown of the prices for the Federal Tax Return preparation and filing:
- Basic – FREE
- Deluxe – FREE
- Premier – $20
- Home & Business – $30
All state preparation and filing is FREE with any of the above services. So if you are a typical person like me that owns a home and is married, you are probably going to be a Deluxe user which in that case everything is free. For state and federal, that is over a $66 savings on your taxes. Not too shabby!
I definitely think that State Farm offering something like this to their customers is a great idea. It probably only costs them 60-70 per person, but if it gets a bunch of people to open new accounts, then it is probably worth it, since attracting new customers is always an expensive process.
If you are not a State Farm Bank customer, you can still check out those same services at TurboTax.com
Free TurboTax Basic Download
November 24, 2010
Oh yes, even though the Turkey has yet to be carved, it is never to early to talk about the 2010 tax season coming up.
There is currently a Turbo Tax promo going on where you can get a free download of TurboTax Basic to help you prepare and file your 2010 taxes. Note that Turbo Tax basic includes free prep and filing for up to 5 2010 federal tax returns. There is an additional cost $19.95 for filing state tax returns.
If you have a pretty simple tax return, then downloading the free turbotax basic is probably the most cost effective way to go.
However if your taxes can be more complicatated and you need a turbo tax version with a little more features, then check out the TurboTax product comparison page for more details.
No More Tax Forms By Mail
October 6, 2010
Moving along with the Internet age, the IRS has decided to no longer automatically tax forms to those that filed their 2009 taxes on paper.
According to the IRS, they are “taking this step because of the continued growth in electronic filing and the availability of free options to taxpayers, as well as to help reduce costs.”
According to the news releasein early October the IRS will be mailing out a postcard to individuals and businesses that filed by paper last year and did not use an electronic tax preparer with instructions on how to get the necessary forms required to file their 2010 taxes.
Most likely those instructions are going to direct you to their online forms section of the IRS website.
This really makes sense, since the cost of mailing these out can be saved considering more and more people have access to the Internet to print these forms.
Anyone think the IRS will take these cost savings and reduce our taxes?????
